Making Real Money At A Virtual Firm

This article, Virtual Law Inc. reports on Hawaii shingler Greg Kim, a former biglaw partner who’s now practicing law with his way while still earing the same salary.  So how does Kim’s practice differ from the traditional law firm?  Here’s how:

Instead of ranks of associates to do his bidding — and to rack up billable hours for his firm — Kim has no associates at all.  His name appears nowhere in the name of the firm, which is called Vantage Counsel.  And instead of billing clients by the hour, Vantage usually bills by the job. In fact, some of Vantage’s clients are young start-up companies that lack the money to pay much in legal fees at all.  Finally, instead of a corner office, Kim now has no office to call his own; instead, he shares communal space with his firm’s four other lawyers — who often work from home or from free WiFi hotspots at Kahala Mall or the Plaza Club downtown.

The article also describes that Kim has become one of the go-to people in Hawaii for advising technology start ups.  And here, Kim has an edge over large firms because of what he shares with start-ups:  his firm is one as well.